Magnetic control device for directly sensing the motion load value

ABSTRACT

A magnetic control device for directly sensing the motion load value especially the one that has a magnetic resistance mechanism which is “floating” and pivoted on the inner edge of the outer ring body of a flywheel; an acting rod, one end of is locked on the outside of the magnetic resistance mechanism and synchronized with it, and the other end has a pressure applied member connected to the beam load cell; a torque value conversion unit for converting the load value of the beam load cell into a torque value; so as to achieves directly measuring the motion load value, which has the effect of improving the detection accuracy.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a fitness equipment, especially to one that has a magnetic control device for directly sensing the motion load value that having the beam load cell with the magnetic resistance mechanism for achieving the desired motion load and having a magnetic control device which can directly sensing the motion load value.

2. Description of the Related Art

The flywheel is widely used in many fitness equipment for providing exercise load by the inertia of rotation; In recent years, fitness equipment often uses flywheels installed with permanent magnets, and then use armatures as stators to make stator coils generate current to be the power that provided for the control and the brake load; FIG. 1-1 and FIG. 1-2 illustrated a U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,325 a brake device with a combination of power-generating and eddy-current magnetic resistance, the device including: a flywheel 820 rotated by the rotate wheel A, the flywheel 820 is stuck to a permanent magnet 821 and stator core 830 to form a magnetic circuit, and further make the coil 831 generate current; the current is rectified and filtered into DC by a rectified and filtered circuit 860, then providing power to the control panel 890 through the DC power supplier 870 and providing power to the brake field core 850 through the adjustable DC power supplier 880, making the brake field core 850 generate a eddy current and further causes a reluctance effect to flywheel 820.

The prior art above mentioned generate the power by using the force applied on the fitness equipment, and then provide the power to the magnetic resistance mechanism for forming the exercise load; This structure can achieve excellent exercise effects, but the large current and large magnetic resistance generated by the mechanism are suitable for installation on larger or more control functions fitness devise; on the contrary, if the fitness equipment that only requires low current and low magnetic resistance is using the above-mentioned patented device, then there is a doubt that excessive resources is wasted; therefore, to let the motion load be reduced, size and the manufacturing cost be reduced, and integrate the magnetic resistance mechanism to small fitness equipment has become the goal of this inventor research.

Moreover, control panel 890 in the aforementioned patent converts the set torque value into a current value and supplies the brake field core 850 to cause magnetic resistance to the flywheel 820; however, the device does not have a torque detection mechanism, obviously, between the magnetic resistance and the setting values has a small deviation, which will cause confusion to the user about the exercise effect; therefore, adding a feedback device for torque detection to improve the user's trust in fitness equipment will be the subject that the inventor wants to improve further.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a beam load cell which connect with the magnetic resistance mechanism for achieving directly detecting the motion value and having the feature of improving load detection accuracy.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide an eddy current magnetic resistance brake device that allow the magnetic resistance mechanism to apply on the small fitness equipment.

In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention including: a support frame having a front frame body and a rear frame body fixed by multiple positioning rod, and the support frame having a fixing base for fixing on the frame of the fitness equipment; a shaft center pivoted in a shaft hole of the bracket for receiving the power transmitted by fitness equipment; a flywheel having an outer ring body at the outer periphery and a wheel nave arranged at the center and the wheel nave has a shaft hole for setting the wheel nave on the shaft center, and the shaft center drives the flywheel to rotate; a magnetic resistance mechanism, the magnetic resistance mechanism includes a coil activity frame surrounded the wheel nave and being active for making the magnetic resistance mechanism floatingly pivot to the inner periphery of the outer ring body of the flywheel, a stator arranged at the outer periphery of the coil activity frame, surrounded with multiple brake field cores, the brake field cores have a containing space for arranging a magnetic coil, and an input line connected to the a magnetic coil; an action lever, one end of the action lever is secured outside the magnetic resistance mechanism and further linked to the magnetic resistance mechanism, and the other end has a pressure applied member; a beam load cell secured on the supporting frame by a load cell bracket, the outer end of the beam load cell is connected to the pressure applied member, and the inner end has a load signal output line for sending the load value; a torque value conversion unit for convert the load value received by the beam load cell into a torque value; a control circuit unit arranged at the lateral side of the supporting frame, at least including a micro processer control interface electrically connected to the torque value conversion unit, a power control unit, and a DC power supplier which connected to the AC power; the control circuit unit can input the desired torque value, and being electrically connected to the input line and the beam load cell of the magnetic coil; the control circuit unit will generate a control signal to form an appropriate current after the control circuit unit calculating the desired torque value and simultaneously input to the magnetic coil of the magnetic resistance mechanism, the current of the magnetic coil will form an eddy current on the brake field core, then cause a resistance to the rotation of the flywheel, and the resistance will drive the magnetic resistance mechanism to floatingly pivot, and by applying the resistance to the beam load cell by the action lever, the control circuit unit will repeatedly capture the resistance value to compare with the desired torque value, and then further change the delivered current, so that make the actual load reaches the exercise effect of the desired torque value.

Also, further includes a ball bearing arranged between the coil activity frame and the wheel nave of the flywheel for the coil activity frame to floatingly pivot relatively to the flywheel.

Also, further include a belt wheel arranged on the shaft center which outside supporting frame for making the fitness equipment transmit power to the shaft center.

With the feature disclosed above, the present invention has below benefits:

-   -   1. The flywheel is drove by the shaft center to rotate, the         magnetic resistance mechanism is arranged at the inner periphery         of the outer ring body of the flywheel, and having multiple         brake field cores and magnetic coil; since the magnetic         resistance mechanism of the present invention is s arranged at         the inner periphery of the flywheel, the size and the         manufacturing cost can be reduced, so it is able to apply on the         small fitness equipment; also, the present invention controls         the magnetic resistance load by the magnitude of the current         applied to the magnetic coil, since the mechanism is a         non-contact resistance device, the present invention also has         the advantages of easy control of resistance, no wear of         components, and low maintenance cost.     -   2. The present invention includes a flywheel that provides         inertial rotation, and the magnetic resistance mechanism is         arranged on the inner periphery of the outer ring of the         flywheel; an appropriate current is input to the magnetic coil         of the magnetic resistance mechanism, then the current of the         magnetic coil will form an eddy current on the brake field core,         then cause a resistance to the rotation of the flywheel; since         the brake field core is set at the inner periphery of the         flywheel, the resistance of the eddy current will be evenly         distributed on the inner periphery of the flywheel, so the         present invention can provide a symmetrical and smooth load         effect.     -   3. The micro processer control interface of the present         invention has an input unit for inputting the desired torque         value, the micro processer will generate a suitable current         through the torque value conversion unit to the magnetic coil of         the magnetic resistance mechanism to form an eddy current on the         brake field core so as to provide a resistance to the rotation         of the flywheel; because a beam load cell is connected to the         magnetic resistance mechanism through an action lever to measure         its resistance, the control circuit unit repeatedly captures the         resistance to compare with the desired torque value, and then         the delivered current is further changed, so that the load value         reaches the desired torque value. Because the beam load cell is         used as the actual load sensing device in the present invention,         and the control circuit unit will send the feedback signal to         correct the magnitude of the current it delivers, then the         accuracy of its load can be increased to more than 95%, so that         the present invention truly fits the user's exercise benefit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1-1 is a schematic diagram illustrating structure of a hybrid braking device for power generation and eddy current magnetic resistance according to the prior art;

FIG. 1-2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the control of the hybrid braking device for power generation and eddy current magnetic resistance according to the prior art;

FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a perspective view illustrating the action lever of the present invention;

FIG. 2C is a perspective view illustrating the structure of the present invention which sensing the motion load value;

FIG. 2D is a perspective view illustrating the combination of the structure of the present invention which sensing the motion load value;

FIG. 3 is an assembly perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view along line 5-5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6A is a front view of the present invention;

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the magnetic resistance mechanism floatingly pivoting;

FIG. 6C is a schematic diagram illustrating the load cell while bearing load bearing load in the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a sectional view along line 7-7 in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 7B is another sectional view along line 7-7 in FIG. 6A;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating the control of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

For better understanding of present invention, I provide the embodiment and drawing enclosed for detailed description. Those who skilled in the art can understand purpose, the feature and benefit of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Kindly noted that the present invention can be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments and based on different viewpoints various details in this specification can be various changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the drawings attached to the present invention are merely a schematic illustration and they are not depicted in actual dimensions. The following embodiments will further describe the related technical content of the present invention in detail, but the disclosed content is not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the magnetic control device for directly sensing the motion load value for fitness equipment 100 comprising: a supporting frame 10, a flywheel 20, a shaft center 30, a magnetic resistance mechanism 50, an action lever 60, a beam load cell 70, and a control circuit unit 80 which showing in FIG. 8; wherein the supporting frame 10 is formed a front frame body 11 and a rear frame body 12, on the top ends of each boards has a shaft hole 10, on each boards has multiple positioning holes 14 corresponding at front and rear, multiple positioning rods 17 are set trough the positioning holes 14 and locked with nuts, so that the front frame body 11 and the rear frame body 12 can be integrated into one body, and the lower end of each board body is provided with a fixing base 15, and the supporting frame 10 can be fixed to the frame of fitness equipment by fixing slot 16; the flywheel 20 is a disc body that provides an inertial rotation, having an outer ring body 21 and an inner side body 22, and the center of the inner side body 22 forms a wheel nave 23 with a shaft hole 24; the shaft center 30 is a shaft for transmitting power, and the middle section will penetrate into the shaft hole 24 of the flywheel 20, both ends are combined with a ball bearing 34 to penetrate a bearing housing 33, and the outer end is connected to a belt wheel 40 through a key to receive the power transmitted by the fitness equipment and drive the flywheel 20 and the shaft center 30 to rotate synchronously.

Also, the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 includes a coil activity frame 51 and a stator 52 arranged at the outer periphery, surrounded the stator 52 has multiple brake field cores 53, the brake field cores 53 have a containing space for arranging the magnetic coil 54; an input line 56, as showing in FIG. 8, one end of the input line 56 is connected with DC power, the other end connected in series with the magnetic coil 54, and the input current will form an eddy current on the brake field core 53; the coil activity frame 51 has an axial through hole 55, which is movably sleeved on the outer edge of the wheel nave 23 of the flywheel 20, so that the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 is floatingly pivoted in the outer ring body 21 of the flywheel 20, when the eddy current is destroyed by the rotating flywheel 20, a resistance is generated and acts on the magnetic resistance mechanism 50; the action lever 60 has a pressure applied member 61, one end is fixed on the outer side of the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 with a screw 65 so that it can be driven to floatingly pivot synchronously with the magnetic resistance mechanism 50; the beam load cell 70 is locked through a load cell bracket 71 on the supporting frame 10, its outer end is connected to the pressure applied member 61 of the action lever 60, and the inner end is provided with a load signal output line 72 for sending a load value 73, therefore, the resistance value will be measured by the beam load cell 70 by the action lever 60.

Referring to FIGS. 2B-2D, which showing the combination status of the action lever 60 and the magnetic resistance mechanism 50; wherein the action lever 60 has a pressure applied member 61 and a curved shape positioning member 62, the positioning member 62 has multiple positioning holes 63 as showing in FIG. 2B, when the action lever 60 is locked on the side edge of the stator 52 with a screw 65, and the beam load cell 70 is connected to the pressure applied member 61 of the action lever 60 with a screw 64, when the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 is having resistance and pivot floatingly, the action lever 60 will be driven to pivot floatingly, and the floating force will be applied to the beam load cell 70, as FIGS. 2C-2D showing.

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, the stator 52 includes multiple brake field cores 53 and the magnetic coil 54, which are secured at the outer edge of the coil activity frame 51 by the screw, and further forms the magnetic resistance mechanism 50; then set the axial through hole 55 of the coil activity frame 51 at the periphery of the wheel nave 23 of the flywheel 20 for making the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 enable to pivot at the outer ring body 21 of the flywheel 20; the present invention further includes a ball bearing 25 arranged between the wheel nave 23 and the axial through hole 55 of the coil activity frame 51, so the coil activity frame 51 can floatingly pivot relatively to the flywheel 20;

Also, the shaft center 30 set through the shaft hole 24 of the flywheel 20, and using a key block embed into the middle section for making the shaft center 30 and the flywheel 20 rotate simultaneously; at both side of the shaft center 30 of the wheel nave 23 of the flywheel 20 has a ball bearing 34, at the outer periphery of the ball bearing 34 has a bearing housing 33, then embed the bearing housing 33 into the shaft hole 13 of the front frame body 11 and rear frame body 12 and secured the bearing housing 33 by set a screw blot to the positioning holes 14 of the front frame body 11 and rear frame body 12, and having multiple positioning rods 17 set through the positioning holes 14 and secured by nuts for combining the shaft center 30, the flywheel 20 and the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 and being secured inside the front frame body 11 and rear frame body 12; furthermore, the belt wheel 40 is embedded to the outer end of the shaft center 30 by a key block, and after secured the positioning member of the action lever 60 at the lateral side of the stator 52, secured the beam load cell 70 on the supporting frame 10 by a load cell bracket 71, finally secured the pressure applied member 61 of the action lever 60 at the outer end of the beam load cell 70, so as to finish the assembling of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 6A-7B which showing the status of the present invention when being applied with motion load, in this embodiment, the axial through hole 55 of the coil activity frame 51 of the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 is linked to a ball bearing 25 and set around the wheel nave 23 of the flywheel 20, so relative to the flywheel 20, the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 can freely pivot, as FIG. 7 showing; the stator 52 of the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 has multiple brake field cores 53 and magnetic coils 54, when the DC current is transmitted to the magnetic coils 54, it will generate a eddy current on the brake field cores 53; since the shaft center 30 is driven by the power transmitted by the fitness equipment to drive the flywheel 20 to rotate synchronously, the eddy current will be destroyed by the rotating flywheel and further generate a resistance and act on the magnetic resistance mechanism 50, and the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 will therefore generate a resistance value P applied to the action rod 60 which connected to it, as showing in FIG. 6B, FIG. 6C, and the resistance value P will be further act on the beam load cell 70 through its pressure applied member 61, and one end of it will bear the shear force acts to the elastic body of the beam load cell 70 to generate a shear strain 6, as FIG. 6C showing, and the strain amount will be converted into a load value and transmitted to the control circuit unit 80 via an electrical connection.

The working principle of the beam load cell 70 is that when one end of the application mechanism is subjected to shearing force, the elastic body of the mechanism will produce shear strain, and its strain will change the resistance value attached to the mechanism; because the system applies a fixed power supply, the partial pressure passing through the beam load cell will change accordingly, after the changed partial pressure value is measured, the signal can be amplified and calculated to be converted into the shear force that the mechanism bears, that is, the load value. However, the working principle of the beam load cell is not the focus of the present invention, but the inventor cleverly installed the mechanism under the operating rod by applying the beam load cell 70 to connect the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 to drive the action rod 60, the shear force of the elastic body can be sensed and converted into a load value, and then transmitted to the system to achieve a control effect.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the control of the present invention, wherein a control circuit unit 80 arranged at the lateral side of the supporting frame 10, at least including a micro processer control interface 81 electrically connected to the torque value conversion unit 82, for converting the load value 73 borne by the beam load cell 70 into a torque value; a power control unit 83, and a DC power supplier 84 which connected to the AC power; the micro processer control interface 81 has an input unit for providing the desired torque value, and being electrically connected to the input line 56 and the beam load cell 70 of the magnetic coil 54; the control circuit unit 80 will generate a control signal to form an appropriate current after the control circuit unit 80 calculating the desired torque value and simultaneously input to the magnetic coil 54 of the magnetic resistance mechanism 50, then the current of the magnetic coil 54 will form an eddy current on the brake field core 53; since the flywheel 20 is rotating, when the eddy current is destroyed by the rotating flywheel 20, it will produce a resistance to resist, and the resistance will drive the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 to floatingly pivot, and by applying the resistance to the beam load cell 70 by the action lever 60, the control circuit unit 80 will repeatedly capture the resistance value which is load value 73 to compare with the desired torque value, and then further change the delivered current, so that make the actual load reaches the exercise effect of the desired torque value.

The flywheel 20 is drove by the shaft center 30 to rotate, the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 is arranged at the inner periphery of the outer ring body 21 of the flywheel 20, and having multiple brake field cores 53 and magnetic coil 54; since the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 of the present invention is s arranged at the inner periphery of the flywheel 20, the size and the manufacturing cost can be reduced, so it is able to apply on the small fitness equipment; also, the present invention controls the magnetic resistance load by the magnitude of the current applied to the magnetic coil 54, since the mechanism is a non-contact resistance device, the present invention also has the advantages of easy control of resistance, no wear of components, and low maintenance cost.

Also, the present invention includes a flywheel 20 that provides inertial rotation, and the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 is arranged on the inner periphery of the outer ring body 21 of the flywheel 20; an appropriate current is input to the magnetic coil 54 of the magnetic resistance mechanism 50, then the current of the magnetic coil 54 will form an eddy current on the brake field core 53, then cause a resistance to the rotation of the flywheel 20; since the brake field core 53 is set at the inner periphery of the flywheel 20, the resistance of the eddy current will be evenly distributed on the inner periphery of the flywheel 20, so the present invention can provide a symmetrical and smooth load effect.

Moreover, the micro processer control interface 81 of the present invention has an input unit for inputting the desired torque value, the micro processer will generate a suitable current through the torque value conversion unit 82 to the magnetic coil 54 of the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 to form an eddy current on the brake field core 53 so as to provide a resistance to the rotation of the flywheel 20; because a beam load cell 70 is connected to the magnetic resistance mechanism 50 through an action lever 60 to measure its resistance, the control circuit unit 80 repeatedly captures the resistance to compare with the desired torque value, and then the delivered current is further changed, so that the load value reaches the desired torque value. Because the beam load cell 70 is used as the actual load sensing device in the present invention, and the control circuit unit 80 will send the feedback signal to correct the magnitude of the current it delivered, then the accuracy of its load can be increased to more than 95%, so that the present invention truly fits the user's exercise benefit.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A magnetic control device for directly sensing the motion load value, which applied on fitness equipment comprising: a support frame having a front frame body and a rear frame body fixed by multiple positioning rod, and the support frame having a fixing base for fixing on the frame of the fitness equipment; a shaft center pivoted in a shaft hole of the bracket for receiving the power transmitted by fitness equipment; a flywheel having an outer ring body at the outer periphery and a wheel nave arranged at the center and the wheel nave has a shaft hole for setting the wheel nave on the shaft center, and the shaft center drives the flywheel to rotate; a magnetic resistance mechanism, the magnetic resistance mechanism includes a coil activity frame surrounded the wheel nave and being active for making the magnetic resistance mechanism floatingly pivot to the inner periphery of the outer ring body of the flywheel, a stator arranged at the outer periphery of the coil activity frame, surrounded with multiple brake field cores, the brake field cores have a containing space for arranging a magnetic coil, and an input line connected to the a magnetic coil; an action lever, one end of the action lever is secured outside the magnetic resistance mechanism and further linked to the magnetic resistance mechanism, and the other end has a pressure applied member; a beam load cell secured on the supporting frame by a load cell bracket, the outer end of the beam load cell is connected to the pressure applied member, and the inner end has a load signal output line for sending the load value; a torque value conversion unit for convert the load value received by the beam load cell into a torque value; and a control circuit unit arranged at the lateral side of the supporting frame, at least including a micro processer control interface electrically connected to the torque value conversion unit, a power control unit, and a DC power supplier which connected to the AC power; the control circuit unit can input the desired torque value, and being electrically connected to the input line and the beam load cell of the magnetic coil; the control circuit unit will generate a control signal to form an appropriate current after the control circuit unit calculating the desired torque value and simultaneously input to the magnetic coil of the magnetic resistance mechanism, the current of the magnetic coil will form an eddy current on the brake field core, then cause a resistance to the rotation of the flywheel, and the resistance will drive the magnetic resistance mechanism to floatingly pivot, and by applying the resistance to the beam load cell by the action lever, the control circuit unit will repeatedly capture the resistance value to compare with the desired torque value, and then further change the delivered current, so that make the actual load reaches the exercise effect of the desired torque value.
 2. The magnetic control device for directly sensing the motion load value as claimed in claim 1, wherein further includes a ball bearing arranged between the coil activity frame and the wheel nave of the flywheel for the coil activity frame to floatingly pivot relatively to the flywheel.
 3. The magnetic control device for directly sensing the motion load value as claimed in claim 1, wherein further include a belt wheel arranged on the shaft center which outside supporting frame for making the fitness equipment transmit power to the shaft center. 